Tumbled
by kdibs227cheerleader
Summary: Stories containing humor, romance, friendship and everything in between. Chapter 3: Wanted
1. The Red Bull incident

As Cyborg poured the last of the canned beverage into a glass, he smirked. This, he was sure, was bounded to teach Robin and Beast Boy a thing or two about pranking. At first, no one had ever seen, or anticipated, the alliance between the two boys. Robin was all about rules and order; Beast Boy was, clearly, not. No one had any inkling to fear them.

Until a week ago, Cyborg only thought he had to worry about a certain green teen, but now that he had been blind sighted, payback was due. The only problem was that his victims were on guard. Let it not be said that they weren't careful. Beast Boy had plenty of experience over the years, but Robin was by habit always on edge. So Cyborg knew he had to be careful as to what he did.

So, here he was, on a Saturday night planning the attack. Robin was scheduled to go on patrols that night, ironically with Beast Boy. The prank was more to get back at Robin then his little buddy, since Robin was the one that put the hot sauce in his ketchup bottle; on the other hand, the type of joke tended to fit Beast Boy's MO. His poor taste buds had been scorched for a day and a half, and no amount of pleading to Raven could get her to heal him.

The plan was simple: spike Beast Boy's drink with a can of Red Bull just before they were supposed to leave for patrol. Then Robin would be stuck with a hyper Beast Boy and Cyborg could claim victory. He had been planning in secret, of course; all the cans were hidden in a special drawer in his room. All of them were careful to keep anything containing caffeine away from the changeling, but every once in a while they would slip up.

Cyborg was willing to bet his one slip up was in order.

The table was set, and once he got the pizza all situated he placed the drinks down. Water for Raven, coke for Robin and him, a tube of mustard for Starfire, and one Red Bull spiked diet coke for his green teammate.

As his friends came in, he wasn't worried. Raven clearly could sense his giddiness, but didn't comment on it, simply raised an eyebrow and went along her way. Robin was scowling at something on his PDA tablet. Starfire and Beast Boy were the last to come in. They all sat down, and Cyborg was ready to get the show on the road, but he didn't anticipate what came next.

"Friend Beast Boy, would you mind if I tried a sip of your drink?" Starfire asked curiously. The alien was always trying new things and it wasn't odd to have her try something that one of her friends was having. Cyborg wouldn't have minded, but he missed the question as he was being drilled by Robin on the progress of the T-Jet.

One second he was telling Robin that he might have to order in new wiring from Steel City, the next Starfire was shrieking. That was when he saw that Beast Boy's glass was empty.

After a minute of chaos, it was revealed to the others. He had to tell Robin, who was pissed as ever, that the drink was meant for Beast Boy. When he was asked why, he told them about the Red Bull. At that point Raven smacked his head and drifted away to her room. Starfire was doing loops all over the Common Room, singing some Tameranian song at the top of her lungs.

He should have known that Robin would turn the tables in his favor.

"Well, since you pulled the prank, it's only far that you live with the consequences." Robin said with a little sadistic smirk. Then he turned to Beast Boy and informed him that they were leaving early; Cyborg was left alone with a hyper Starfire.

Since that disastrous prank, Cyborg can't help but cringe whenever he sees or hears anything about that caffeinated drink. Two days after the incident, Red Bull was put at the top of the list on banned substances that weren't allowed in the tower.

There's only so many times one can hear the traditional song of awakening, sung at the top of a certain redheaded alien's lungs, and not want to be met with a swift and painless death.


	2. Reality Bites

**Wow, so this is probably the first time I've updated in a decent amount of time. I also realized that I did't leave an author's note in the last drabble, (these are too short to be considered one-shots), and so here's my disclaimer: I don't own the Titans; if I did, Raven would be with Beast Boy, Robin wouldn't be such a pain in the ass, and Terra...well she probably would have left the same way. Anyway, this drabble revolves around Cyborg, again, simply because I don't think he gets enough spotlight. **

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Cyborg was becoming fast friends with Google. Normally, the metal teen wouldn't mind; browsing the web was one of his favorite pastimes. But, thanks to the past few weeks, he was really beginning to hate it.

Late at night, when the others were asleep, or pacing, of simply listening with their ear to the door of their youngest member, Cyborg would search the internet for any help. He looked at pages that talked about depression, of possible solutions, of ways to make it easier. He looked up tips to making your friend smile; he even went as far to download an app that gave out a 'Joke of the Day'.

For all his research he might as well have been trying to capture the moon.

There were only so many times he could try to maintain a happy attitude for the team when the person that should have been doing it was hurt. He was grasping at straws, trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel, trying to stay positive. At night was the only time he fell apart.

On the bad nights, the ones where he's pacing in the same room as Robin, he leaves and goes to see his buddy. Those nights he'll use the override code, walk into the room (clean from hours spent in solitude), and watch his best friend sleep. He's grateful for these moments; it puts his mind to ease, just a little bit. Ever since they had...can they even call it _loss_...ever since Terra had left, his friend hadn't been sleeping well.

He can only imagine what Terra said to him as she tried to kill him..._twice._

Those nights he curses Slade. He screams at Terra for what she did, for leaving and hurting his friend like this. He even puts himself down for not seeing it sooner, for not being more cautious, for not noticing how things were falling into place with a sickening click.

But he doesn't stop. He tries to keep Starfire smiling. He tosses one liners back and forth with Robin when he stares at the files too long. He even, timidly, tries to get Raven to come out once and a while.

He spends every minute trying to get Beast Boy to smile again.

It doesn't do a lot of good. There are bad days; the ones where Robin will rant and rave about how he's failed, whether at not seeing the plot or at being a leader; the times where Starfire will just sit and cry silently; the times where he'll be walking along a familiar corridor and hear things he shouldn't as Raven talks through Beast Boy's door.

Times like these, where Cyborg wants to do nothing but break down, that the superhero really hates reality.

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**Ya, I don't think any of them would be okay after the whole Terra and Slade deal. Being double crossed doesn't sit well with anyone, not matter what the reasons. Read and Review guys. I love hearing for you. Also if you have requests I'll do my best :-)**


	3. Wanted

Beast Boy tried to ignore the pounding on his door. It was kinda hard to do, seeing as how his senses were so much sharper then everyone else's, but because Cyborg was literally knocking so hard that his door was starting to rattle. Normally he would open the door in a heartbeat, but this time he truly just wanted to alone.

"B, open the dam door!" Cyborg yelled through the metal. Beast Boy simply curled up tighter on his bed.

No one was supposed to hear the call, but Mento had a nasty habit of yelling when he was pointing out certain things. Especially when the green changeling was involved. Beast Boy, of course, could stand it. He could handle Mento simply yelling at him; five years of working with the man had given him a pretty thick skin when it came to insults.

He drew the line at Mento talking crap about his friends. It started out with a simple comment on how Starfire didn't have to be so naive, and then he was saying how Raven should be monitored more closely considering her past, and how Robin and Cyborg should go through more 'practical' training.

From there it all went down hill and ended with his former leader's voice screaming through the speakers, "We should have let Galtry kill you; at least then we would have been doing everyone a favor!" The call had been cut quickly after that.

The others had heard, of course, and because they didn't like the man (Cyborg had a nasty habit of cussing Mento when he was particularly annoyed), but they were more angry at the last comment.

Beast Boy simply fled and locked himself in his room, refusing to acknowledge their calls or questions.

Eventually Cyborg had come up and wasn't going to leave until Beast Boy gave in to his demands. Sighing, he got up and shuffled to the door. Cyborg was just about to let forth another round of pounding, but stopped and instead crushed his best friend to his chest.

"Don't scare me like that, buddy," Cyborg said. Beast Boy nodded his head. His friend's metal chest was cool and soothing against his stinging eyes. Cyborg ran his hand up and down his back.

"I'm sorry." Cyborg sighed and turned the green boys face up to his.

"You don't have _anything_ to be sorry about. I just think you should know that Robin and Raven are tearing UFO helmet head a new one. Both of them are seriously pissed." Cyborg said. Beast Boy dropped his head back to the metal plating.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," He murmured. Cyborg let go and moved to sit down on the floor. He leaned up against the wall and patted the space next to him. Beast Boy moved, and was soon pulled up against his friend's side.

"B, we _want_ you to be able to tell us about this kind of crap. He doesn't have any right to say that kind of shit about you." Cyborg ranted. Beast Boy bite his lip. Cyborg didn't often swear. He only did it when he was either incredibly frustrated or pissed beyond belief. At this point it was probably a mix of both.

"Was he right, though?" He asked timidly. There was a beat of silence and he was, once again, being crushed to his friend's chest.

"Don't you _ever_ think that! You're important to us, all of us, and to even think that something like that would be a blessing is wrong. If dome head can't see how lucky he was to have you, then he can go suck it." Cyborg said fiercely. His throat was starting to tighten again and his eyes burned.

"You're my best friend, Beast Boy. What makes you think that I wouldn't want you here?" Cyborg asked. A choked sob escaped his lips. Cyborg leaned in the rest his forhead against the smaller boys. "You matter to us, Beast Boy. Starfire would go nuts if you weren't around, trying to help her understand things and showing her all the little, silly things. Robin would be so uptight if you didn't bring a little crazy around here. Hell, I would probably still be hiding out in dark alleys." Cyborg softened his voice for the last part. "Raven would miss you if you weren't here. I don't think you even realize the _half_ of what you mean to her. "

He lost control after that, but Cyborg didn't seem to mind. He didn't make any effort to move him; instead he tightened his arms around the smaller boy and murmured reassuring words and soothing gestures into his ears. It was a long time before Cyborg let him go. He brushed some residual tears off and smiled gently at him.

"I want you to answer me a question, okay?" At the hesitant nod he continued. "Are you wanted here by us?"

Beast Boy had to swallow hard before he could answer.

"Yes."

If Mento didn't want him, okay. But he was wanted _here_, and right then and there, that was all that mattered.


End file.
